Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Henry the Emperor.
St. Henry was born in the year 972 in Germany.
And he would grow up and become the king of Germany, the German king, as well as the Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Emperor.
And during his reign, he desired nothing other than the glory of God.
This was the one thing that he desired above all, was to give glory to God by means of his rule.
And so what he did, he did many things.
He did many things for the glory of God.
He had cathedrals built.
He built monasteries and innumerable churches, which enlightened and sanctified the lands that were under his reign.
St. Henry was also known for his great devotion to Our Lady.
Whenever he would come and arrive at a new city or a new town,
the first thing he would do was spend that time with his wife.
And he would spend that first night in a church there, which was dedicated to Our Lady.
And he would spend the night watching and praying throughout the night in honor of Our Blessed Lady.
And we can say that the fruit of his Marian devotion was his heroic chastity, his love for this virtue.
St. Henry was married to another saint, St. Cunegonde.
And they lived in chastity together.
Even though they were married.
Pope Benedict XIV, in fact, cites St. Henry as an example of heroic chastity
in his famous work on heroic virtue with regard to the canonization of saints.
Pope Benedict XIV says this.
In the bull of the canonization of St. Cunegonde, the empress, there are these words.
They, i.e. the witnesses,
the witnesses who are examined,
said on their oath that they knew from general report,
as well as from authentic documents,
that though the Blessed Cunegonde was united to St. Henry the Emperor in the bond of matrimony,
yet that she was never carnally known by him.
And accordingly, when our Lord the Emperor was dying,
he said to the princes and her parents,
such as she was when you gave her to me,
such do I resign her to you.
You gave her to me a virgin,
and a virgin I return her.
St. Henry died on July 13th in the year 1024.
And so this gives us an opportunity to reflect on the virtue of chastity.
Seeing this virtue specifically shines
in St. Henry.
So the virtue of chastity
is part of the cardinal virtue of temperance.
It's the habit by which we govern
the pleasures of the flesh
according to right reason.
And now, this virtue, in order to practice this virtue,
in order to acquire this virtue,
requires battle,
requires conflict.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
calls it the battle for purity.
And also, sacred scripture refers to it as well.
In the Book of Wisdom, it says,
Oh, how beautiful is the chaste generation with glory!
It triumpheth crowned forever,
winning the reward of undefiled conflicts.
These conflicts that the Book of Wisdom refers to is what?
It's the conflict against our disordered passions,
against concupiscence,
which is all a result of original sin.
And this conflict that we have to undergo
to practice this virtue of chastity
is found in every state of life.
No one can escape it.
Married people are expected to live
chastely, purely, according to their married state.
Even if they,
if they don't, of course, live
the way that Saint Henry and Saint Cunegonde lived,
they still have to live purity according to that state,
moderating the passions according to right reason.
As well as those who are single and, of course, religious,
all have to practice this virtue of chastity.
And this conflict, which is found in every state of life,
also lasts
for a lifetime.
Okay, there's no point in your life
when you are no longer subject
to the conflict,
the fight against disordered passions.
Again, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says,
one can never consider this virtue acquired once and for all.
It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life.
So we can expect,
expect to endure conflict up until the point of our death.
The Catechism, interestingly, also recognizes that
the acquisition of this virtue also
depends a lot upon the help from the culture in which we live in.
That is, we should be helping each other to live chastely.
The culture, the society in which we live has a lot to do
with fostering this virtue.
The Catechism says,
chastity represents an eminently personal task.
Of course, first and foremost,
it depends on us.
It also involves a cultural effort,
for there is an interdependence
between personal betterment
and the improvement of society.
Chastity presupposes respect
for the rights of the person.
In particular, the right to receive information
and an education that respect the moral
and spiritual dimensions of human life.
So, this is what society should be providing
for individuals out there
in order to help promote a good, virtuous life.
They should be receiving information
and education that respect
the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life.
And now, in looking at our Western culture,
we see that exactly the opposite is the case.
By means of the internet, movies, music, television,
the virtue of chastity is far from being promoted.
But on the contrary, it seems to be despised.
And the opposite vice
is being promoted.
The vice of impurity and slavery to the passions.
In fact, Great Britain's National Health Service
has recently produced a leaflet
that it distributes to parents, teachers, and youth workers.
And this leaflet encourages school children
to live promiscuously.
It tells them,
these children,
that they have a right to live promiscuous lives
and that it's actually good for them,
good for their health.
This is the National Health Service of Great Britain.
Again, promoting a life of vice and impurity.
And so here we see the option,
the other option to living a chaste life.
The option of living a life of self-mastery,
in proper governance of the passions.
The opposite is living a life of vice,
of slavery to the passions,
which deprives man of any authentic peace and joy
in this world.
While the chaste person is made similar to the angels,
the unchaste person,
the person who lives a life of impurity,
is made similar to the beasts.
Okay, in that the beasts act and live
only according to their senses.
And so in order for us to practice
and acquire this virtue,
we should implore the intercession
of Saint Henry today.
And as well,
we should imitate his example of Marian devotion.
We should pray the rosary every day
for this intention.
To live chastely and be preserved
from all of the bad influences
that we find in our society.
In the name of the Father and the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.